Climate: Our Favourite Fish Are Disappearing

Britain’s traditional fish supper is set to change because climate change is forcing cod and haddock stocks to migrate northwards out of reach of local fishermen.

Rising ocean temperatures are forcing cod (left) and other popular fish to move to breeding grounds much closer to the North Pole.

They are set to be replaced by growing numbers of foreign sea creatures attracted by increasingly warmer waters around the British Isles. Some of the newcomers could have devastating effects on existing sea life, while others could be beneficial, according to new research.

Government marine scientists collaborated with the Met Office and researchers from Exeter and East Anglia universities to make more accurate predictions about what will happen in our seas as the planet heats up. The research was published in the journal “Aquatic Conservation: Migration and Freshwater Ecosystems,” and warns that Britons will have to change their ideas about the seafood they eat because their long-time favourites will start to thin out in UK waters.

While the cod and haddock will head to the Pole, flatfish like sole and plaice have nowhere suitable to go. At the same time, cuttlefish and sardines are being caught in rising numbers and are destined to become the fish of the future for Britain. The report warns that native species of mussels, fish or oysters could also be displaced.

The aquatic conservation report provides a crystal ball that could highlight which parts of the British coastline will be most vulnerable to climate change triggered by rising atmospheric levels of greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars, factories and power plants.

New Fish Arriving

Sea temperatures around Britain have already risen by more than 1.5C in the past 30 years because of those changes, and scientists have warned that the trend is likely to continue for much of the rest of the century.

“In a few decades the temperature of our seas is likely to be roughly the same as those found in the waters around Portugal at the turn of the last century, so we can expect to find the kind of marine life that existed there in British seas in the near future,” said Professor Stephen Simpson, a marine biologist from Exeter University.

“Apart from cuttlefish (left) and sardines – which are already moving into our waters – we can expect fish like red mullet and John Dory to be more common.

By contrast the haddock is already disappearing from the southern North Sea, while plaice and sole are also becoming less and less prevalent. Fortunately, cod appears to be more resilient.”

Marine biologists have warned in the past that there will be profound changes in the seas surrounding the British Isles but it is still not known exactly when and where the changes will occur.

“We need to be more precise about the changes that lie ahead,” Simpson said. “At present we are catching more and more fish that is traditional fare for the continent, and we are exporting them back to these countries. At the same time the cod, haddock and sole we used to catch in our own waters are now being caught in remoter fisheries, such as those around Iceland, and are being sold back to us. That is a serious imbalance which, as Brexit approaches, we have to get right.”

That point was supported by the paper’s lead author, Dr Bryony Townhill, of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). “Knowing which species are likely to spread, and to where, means that we can focus efforts to understand their potential impact and explore opportunities to prepare or mitigate them.”

By contrast, the report points out that shellfish such as the Manila clam and the American razor clam have considerable potential to form the basis of commercially valuable farms if they become established in our waters.

“We have to be prepared for these sorts of creatures arriving and spreading in our waters,” Simpson added. “They have enormous potential for good, and to cause harm. In the past, many different species used to get washed into our waters but could not survive the cold of a UK winter. Those cold conditions have become a thing of the past, however. Life in our seas is changing.”

by Bob Graham

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